


how to cuddle a yusaku, a memoir by a devilishly handsome ai

by tasteslikeciel



Series: Hugsaku 2019: Let's Give Yusaku Hugs! [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pining, aiballshipping, everyone is having Feelings, hugsaku, hugsaku2019, not listed but slight Firestorm and Datastorm, not the kidnapped playmaker scenario i dreamed of writing but it sure is the one i wrote
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-03 21:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20660783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteslikeciel/pseuds/tasteslikeciel
Summary: Ai returns to Yusaku with an umbrella, a warm heart, and a getaway car.Written for the Hugsaku event!





	1. fever

**Author's Note:**

> you have no idea how fun this was to write

“Jeez, I leave you for a few weeks and you fall to pieces without me.”

The rain drenching his body in a shower of ice is suddenly blocked and the sound of water droplets pitter-pattering against fabric overhead meets his ears instead. Blinking up from his daze, Yusaku sees Ai in all his gaudy, vampiric glory holding up a frilled, burgundy-colored umbrella over both their heads. It’s just big enough for two people (if the two in question were to squish close together), but at the moment, it’s mostly being held over Yusaku to shield him. The back of Ai’s flamboyant cloak is getting drenched, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care about it all that much. 

“What am I going to do with you, Yusaku-chan~?” Ai continues, an amused smile on his face. “You really are hopeless on your own without me at your wrist.”

Despite Ai’s ridiculous appearance, somehow, he blends in with the dreary atmosphere and idly Yusaku wonders if he got the idea from one of those dramas he so loved to consume with Roboppi each day. He wouldn’t put it past him. Ai has always been some level of overdramatic.

“Ai…” Yusaku’s mind whirls because no one has been able to pinpoint Ai’s location since this whole mess began. But nothing more comes out than a quiet breath of Ai’s name when he tries to ask. Everything he’s wanted to say stays locked up inside him. “...”

Upon further inspection, there’s an anxious twist to the smile on Ai’s face and it’s something that only grows when Yusaku merely continues to stare at him without saying anything more. His golden eyes shimmer in a nervous fashion and despite having the body of an android, his face looks a bit pale out of...is that fear? He’s unsure, but it’s amazing, Yusaku thinks, how lifelike the SOLtis look. If it weren’t for the faintly glowing gem on Ai’s neck, he really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between android and human. 

The A.I. clears his throat after a moment more of awkwardness passes and he runs a hand through his long, dark hair. A quiet sigh spills from his lips and it’s something to marvel at because SOLtis can’t breathe, can they? Then again, this _ is _Ai. Maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised.

“Seriously, who let you out of the house without an umbrella or even a jacket?” Ai continues and swallows whatever trepidation he has to lean closer and inspect Yusaku’s face. Yusaku unconsciously leans away, but the brick wall at his back does little to help him reclaim his personal space. “You look like a kitten someone threw out onto the streets.”

There’s a tease there despite the tense air and for lack of anything to say, Yusaku’s eyes narrow and he turns away from Ai with his arms crossed, a bit huffy. He looks out onto the empty, soaked streets and does his best to avoid Ai’s gaze despite their close proximity, but he can feel the burn of Ai’s gaze on him and it sends a shiver up his spine. 

“I just needed some fresh air.” he says, a bit defensively. “I didn’t mean to be out this long.”

_ ‘Or walk this far.’ _ he adds in a silent muse.

A confrontation with Ai here, now, and like this hadn’t been on Yusaku’s list of expected activities for the day. He isn’t lying about needing the fresh air, but in truth, he felt so claustrophobic sitting in his apartment all alone with nothing but the decision to fight Ai weighing down on him that his anxiety spiked and he fled his home in a rush because he _ needed _ to get away and go _ somewhere_. So he wandered the city, making sure to avoid places Kusanagi frequented and places high schoolers like Takeru roamed. Then it started to rain and he just...did nothing about it. 

_ ‘I’m not ready to talk to you.’ _

He hasn’t been able to decide what to do just yet or if he even wants to fight Ai in the first place. Letting him carry on like he is feels wrong because hurting others is wrong and he doesn’t want Ai to walk down the same path of vengeance as he had, but fighting him feels just as wrong, too. So he doesn’t know what to do.

Did they really have to fight? He’s tired of fighting the people he wants to save while they destroy themselves from the inside-out and the whole thing makes his headache the more he thinks about it. He wishes the world would stop spinning and making him feel so nauseous...

Ai raises an eyebrow at him as he straightens. “In _ this _ weather? Hope you don’t expect me to believe that, Yusaku-chan. You might be able to fool someone else with that, but me? I could practically write a whole book on how to _ Decode _ everything you say~”

He blinks and squints up at the android a bit. Did Ai just--

Yusaku huffs, arms dropping to his sides and frown deepening. He’s tired, his head hurts, and his body aches. 

He’s just really, _ really _ tired…

“What do you want me to say?” he asks, irritated as he turns back to face him. “Here’s the truth then: _ I’m not ready for this conversation. _ I want to be left _ alone _.”

To his credit, Ai doesn’t flinch away. He just becomes a bit harder to read, more solemn and un-Ai-like. Yusaku doesn’t know what he’s thinking, but he never really does to begin with. With a weary sigh, he leans against the building for support and tries very hard not to collapse on the spot. 

“I want to be left alone.” he repeats. “So just...just--”

“Just?” Ai interrupts and draws a bit closer.

“I don’t...know.” And he doesn’t. He has no idea what he wants (except for maybe a quiet place to rest). “...just leave me here. I need to think.”

It sounds childish to even his ears, but he doesn’t have a better response to give. He knows he should do something, at least say something to Ai about what he’s doing. But he can’t get the words to come and just feels the pressure in his head pound behind his eyes. He reaches up to rub at his temples, hoping to quell the pain even a little bit.

Ai simply tuts. “No can do, Yusaku-chan~ I can’t just leave a poor, abandoned kitten out in the rain all by himself. What kind of heartless person would I be to just let you drown out here in this flood? Can you even swim?”

No, actually.

“I can take care of myself.” He’s not helpless, just stressed and too tense. Ai smiling at him like that, teasing him, and acting like nothing is different between them makes all that worse. He huffs out a sigh. “_I’ll _ leave then. I won’t tell anyone I saw you, so just--“

He tries to turn and walk away, but Ai wraps a hand around his upper arm and doesn’t let go. Yusaku blinks and looks back up at him through the pounding in his head, a question in his eyes and a twist to his lips.

“Ai--“

“There’s no reason for you to do anything. People expect too much from you, you know…” Ai insists and he gives Yusaku a strange look. There’s also an odd dip in his tone that Yusaku can’t decipher, but it seems almost...angry. Something changes in his expression, a flash of _ something_, but it’s gone before Yusaku has a chance to figure out what it is. “We _ should _ talk about this… But later! _ Much _later. Once you’re settled and not quite so feverish looking.”

Feverish? Surely he’s not getting sick _ now_, is he? He does have chills and there is this awful headache but...

Ai releases his arm and Yusaku opens his mouth to ask him what he means by all that, but Ai quickly reaches up to press a finger to Yusaku’s forehead with a soft smile. Yusaku’s whole world turns black in an instant and the question sitting on his tongue dies. The pressure behind his eyes becomes nothing but a distant memory as his legs give out and he falls over into Ai’s awaiting arms, completely and totally unconscious.

“Good night, Yusaku-chan~” Ai tells his sleeping Origin. 

He chuckles a little and carefully rearranges a few things so he can carry Yusaku --princess style!-- and the umbrella with relative ease. Once that’s done and he’s sure Yusaku isn’t becoming any wetter than he already is, he looks down at his relaxed features and hugs him a little bit closer to his chest, carefully but snugly, like one would hold something precious to them. His smile somehow becomes a little softer. 

“This is just between us,” he continues quietly. “but I’ve...always wanted to hold you like this…”

He hesitates but eventually gives Yusaku a little nuzzle with his nose. The temperature sensors within the SOLtis’ artificial skin easily pick up the building heat burning Yusaku’s skin and Ai frowns at it. Yusaku is totally drenched and under the spell of a forced sleep, so this isn’t quite how he’s always imagined holding him would be. In his mind, he always envisioned Yusaku to be smiling and happy and a little more, you know, _ awake _ and _ dry _ and not _ forced _ to take a nap because he’s so awful at looking after himself he doesn’t realize when he has a fever.

Ai sighs loudly and starts pacing as words tumble from his mouth. 

“Jeez, you’re a mess… I finally get to hold you for real and you’re sick! Can you believe that? Sure, I got to spring hugs on you before, but those weren’t--... I mean, you’re not the hugging or touching type and I get why, but it didn’t stop me from dreaming about it whenever I thought about us, you know, co-existing with everyone else. I’d always sneak little ones in whenever I could and at the time, it was enough, and I was trying not to get too attached to you because I thought you didn’t really _ need _someone like me around, but I--” 

He stops pacing and babbling and his gaze shyly slips down to stare at Yusaku’s lips. “...w-well, now that I have this body, I can--”

Just then, the sound of rubber skidding over wet pavement slices through the air and a sleek, jet-black sports car shoots around a corner and comes screeching to a halt right next to them, effectively cutting Ai off and nearly sliding into them in the process. Thankfully, Ai’s reaction time is way above average and he hops out of the way, careful not to drop Yusaku as he rushes to move.

“_Oi! Would you be careful?! _” Ai yells and clutches Yusaku protectively. His cheeks puff out a little and he turns away with a childish pout. “You almost hit us and I was having an intimate moment here...”

The driver door flies open and out hops his newly SOLtis’d and smarter companion, Roboppi, with a wide grin on their face and a little salute in greeting. They don’t seem the least bit apologetic and continue to radiate that seemingly endless childish glee of theirs.

“Roboppi reporting for duty!” they exclaim but then blink in wonder as they spot Yusaku wrapped up in Ai’s arms. They make a little dash to stand by Ai’s side, a frown tugging at their lips as they inspect Yusaku’s pitiful state. “Aniki! What did you do to Master? He’s soaked! He’ll catch a cold!”

Ai huffs. “I found him like this, okay? Relax. I’ll change him out of these wet clothes once we get home.”

Roboppi continues to frown and reaches up to gently brush away wet strands of pink and blue hair sticking to Yusaku’s face. Thanks to the temporary sleeping virus Ai infected him with, he doesn’t stir from the touches (or any of the loud noises from before). He remains blissfully asleep and unaware of anything else around him. That in itself is comforting because for once, Ai can be sure he’s actually resting, but he really does look pitiful and Ai can’t blame Roboppi for feeling distressed. He very much resembles a drowned kitten.

“He’ll be _ fine_.” Ai repeats to reassure them. It might be a little wrong to just take Yusaku like this, but it’s not like anyone is waiting for him back in that depressing little apartment of his. “He’s with us now, isn’t he?”

Roboppi continues to inspect Yusaku’s face, but their frown turns into a determined grin at the reminder that Yusaku is theirs. The coming battle for control over SOL and to reclaim the future that was stolen from him will be difficult, but with Playmaker safely removed from the battlefield and in his rightful place by Ai’s side, there’s nothing for any of them to fear. Ignis take care of their own and he’ll care for Yusaku the way he’s always deserved to be cared for: like a prince(ss).

“Right!” Roboppi chirps and gives Yusaku a quick little shoulder hug before they skip backward with a giggle. “There’s no place safer than with us!”

“Ex-Ai-ctly! We’ll give him the life he deserves and he won’t want for anything.” Ai continues and starts heading towards the haphazardly parked car. Roboppi is quick to follow. “He’ll never be alone again.”

“Mm! ...home, right?” Roboppi asks as they return to the driver’s seat. They pause and set a finger against their cheek in thought. “Mmmm, does Master need anything else?”

“We should have everything already.” Ai walks around to the passenger seat and the door opens for him without him even needing to touch it. Being an A.I. who can manipulate technology of all kinds comes in handy, after all. “Buuut I can always send you out for errands if that changes~”

Roboppi clutches a fist with an excited gleam in their eyes. “Anything for Master!”

Ai discards the umbrella into the back once he takes the passenger seat. Then both doors are closed, seatbelts are fastened, Ai makes sure Yusaku is being properly cuddled to his chest for Important Safety Reasons™, and then Roboppi starts up the sports car again.

Ai runs a hand through Yusaku’s wet hair in a little pet and presses a kiss to the top of his head. “Just leave everything to me from now on, Yusaku-chan. I’ll take back everything that was stolen from us and you don’t have to do anything but stay with me. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Yusaku still doesn't stir (and can’t even if he wanted to), but Ai happily takes his silence as a positive answer all the same and giddily snuggles into him. 

“Alright! Let’s bid Den City good-bye for now!” Ai announces and points towards the main highway with a dramatic flourish. “Onward!”

“Onward!” Roboppi repeats and mashes their foot onto the gas pedal, making the tires squeal.

They speed off into the ever-darkening streets as thunder rumbles overhead, no one the wiser to their departure.

-x-x-

“We’re home!” Roboppi bursts through the apartment doors and throws their arms out wide into a grand gesture, intent on showing the new place off. They twirl around, eyes shimmering in excitement. “What do you think, Master?”

The apartment (a very expensive, deluxe suite located in a prime part of the city) sits at the very top floor of the apartment complex. The inside is rather luxurious and spacious with its two floors, polished cypress flooring, pristine leather seating, a fully-automated kitchen complete with bar and drink-mixing A.I. bartender, and a living room surrounded by windows that give the best view that Heartland has to offer. It’s something Ai conned a drunken real estate agent out of over a game of poker during their excursion on the casino cruise. The intent had always been to take out Queen and snatch up her key to rip control of SOL out of human hands, but all work and no play is _ boring_. So, he had a little fun! Roboppi did, too, and won some rich kid’s brand-new sports car in a game of chess.

Ai shushes them as he walks through the entrance, heels clacking loudly against the floor despite his own insistence for quiet. The action is unneeded since Yusaku won’t wake up for a few more hours no matter how loud anyone gets, but it’s the principle of the thing. Roboppi’s voice echoes and he wants an entrance worthy of a prince(ss).

“He’s still asleep.” Ai complains and kicks the doors closed behind him. He succeeds in making more noise. “Not so loud. Don’t ruin the atmosphere.”

Roboppi sets their hands behind their head and pouts. “You gave him the sleeping virus, didn’t you? He won’t wake up from just _ that _.”

“That’s not the point, so _ shush_. This is important cargo and I want to do this the fun way.” Ai insists and sticks his tongue out at his companion. “So, _ nyeh_.”

Roboppi sighs and slumps. “Fiiiiine… But when he wakes up, _ I _ get to show him around...”

“Yeah, yeah. Deal. Shoo.” Ai manages to make a shooing motion with his hand. “Let me work.”

Roboppi huffs and wanders off mumbling something about browsing the local dueling television networks. Ai feels a bit guilty about it because he knows they care about Yusaku and want to help despite their newly-acquired distaste for humans, but Roboppi can cater to Yusaku’s needs all they want to once the sleeping virus runs its course and he finally wakes up. Right now, Ai wants to be a little bit selfish and keep Yusaku all to himself, just until he’s dry and changed and settled into the room he prepared for him. Maybe a bit longer if he can get away with it. He’d originally planned to go straight after Akira for the second key, but after acquiring this apartment and then running into Yusaku earlier than expected, plans changed. His goals shifted. Now, he wants the thing he thought he couldn’t have: a life with Yusaku.

He clears his throat. “Now, princess, allow me to show you to your chambers~! I decorated and made it all nice and pretty, just for you~”

He heads up a curved set of stairs to the right of the entrance and makes his way to the upper-floor master bedroom. It’s just as spacious and nicely furnished as everything else in the apartment is, but this one he dolled up with twisting wisteria vines and lush carnations to give it a fairytale-like feel and he switched out the silk bedding for something more plush and cozy and better suited to Yusaku’s tastes. The sheets are colored in a simple cream, but the duvet is a soft lavender to match the strip of color painting the walls. He thought the pastel aesthetic would compliment Yusaku’s features as he slept and be something nice to wake up to. According to every tv drama he’s ever seen, humans like being showered in flowers!

“Like it? Thought you might~” Ai says with a wink and nearly twirls across the white carpet to reach the adjoining private bathroom built off to the side. “Let’s get you cleaned up and changed. Then, it’s bedtime for you! I’ll even tell you a story, if you like~”

The private bathroom sparkles as the light reflects off the rose-colored tiles. It’s fitted with a walk-in shower, a movie star-esque vanity table, and pressed against the back wall near the center is a huge bathtub just perfect for sharing with a special someone. Not that Ai has any plans to do something like that with Yusaku, but if the opportunity ever presents itself...well, options are nice.

“Now, where did Roboppi put those towels…”

He carefully sets Yusaku down on the bathroom floor and quickly gathers all the supplies he needs (towels, clean clothes, a brush to tidy up Yusaku’s hair with, etc.). Then he sets to work stripping Yusaku out of his wet uniform and carefully dries him off. It’s a little weird seeing Yusaku in nothing but his bare skin, but he also finds it fascinating because he’s never really seen a human body up close like this before and he can’t help exploring, just a little. He finds an old scar on Yusaku’s back and a tiny little birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on the inside of his wrist. They’re just tiny little details he never would have known about, but finding them makes him feel just that little bit closer to his Origin and he can’t help the pleased grin he wears.

“All done!” he announces, voice echoing off the tiles. Yusaku is all dried and dressed up in comfy blue pajamas. There’s still a flush to his cheeks from the fever, but that’s something a little rest can fix. He already looks much better. “See? That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

Yusaku, of course, doesn’t answer him, but Ai is only talking to fill in the silence and nothing more. He imagines, if Yusaku had been awake, he would have done a lot more fussing and fidgeting throughout the whole thing. Maybe even some blushing. Now _ that _would have been a sight.

“Up we go, princess~” He wraps Yusaku back up into his arms and carries him back into the bedroom. “It’s way past your bedtime, you know? What would Kusanagi-san say if--”

He pauses and shuts his mouth, looking a bit distressed that he even thought of the man. Because he knows _ exactly _what Kusanagi would say and he’d be absolutely livid with Ai for what he’s done. He can practically see the angry, disappointed look on his face. He’d trusted in him and believed he was good. Now, Ai’s turned around and spit all that trust back into his face.

“U-uhm…” Ai jerkily sits down on the bed and gives a weak, nervous laugh. “So, yeah. Uh...I uh, I promised you a bedtime story, right?”

Not just Kusanagi, either. Takeru is going to feel more betrayed than ever. That kid really loved Flame and believed in the good of the Ignis, but he let Flame’s memory go out without a fight. Ai couldn’t understand it. Is it so wrong of him to want Yusaku to cherish his memory instead of moving on like nothing happened? Is that really so wrong?

“Er...do you even like bedtime stories?” Ai asks, distracted as he tries to settle Yusaku atop the bed. But his arms are shaking and he can’t quite set him down fully. “How about a fairytale? Or maybe--”

Ryoken is going to _ hate _him. He’d finally called Ai by his name and finally shown some sign of willingness to trust in him. And now Ai is fighting against the humans and doing the very thing Ryoken feared he’d do from the start. Plus, kidnapping.

And when Yusaku wakes up, how is he going to react to this?

A sudden wave of loneliness and fear crashes into him and he keeps Yusaku held close. He hugs him like it’s the last thing he’ll ever be able to do, like he’ll never be able to touch him again. It’s irrational because no one is going to think to look for them outside of Link VRAINS, much less Den City. He shouldn’t worry like this and yet the possibility that someone _ might _ find them sends him into a mild panic. He doesn’t want the last, lingering attachment he has to this world to be taken from him. Losing the other Ignis was hard enough, but losing Yusaku, too? If that were to happen, he--

Yusaku’s hair is still a bit damp, but Ai doesn’t care and threads his fingers through it regardless. He snuggles into him and his tone dips into something best described as heartbroken.

“...I’m sorry for all the things I’m about to do.” he says, voice losing all its teasing charm.

His throat constricts like phantom hands are squeezing the life out of him. He grimaces and buries his face into Yusaku’s neck, glad that for all their realism, SOLtis are unable to cry. Still, his voice wavers like he will anyway and he chokes on his words as he tries to keep himself steady. 

“But I can’t move on until I try. I _ need _ them back, Yusaku, and I _ need _ you, too. I can’t live in this world on my own. So just stay here with me, even if you hate me for it, okay? I’ll make it up to you somehow, one day. _ Please_, don’t leave me like everyone else did. I can’t lose you, too. I _ can’t _.”

It’s better he did this on his own because Roboppi would surely be upset.

-x-x-

_ “Sorry. I’m not available.” _

Kusanagi huffs as Yusaku’s lackluster voicemail starts up yet again. This time, he ends the call before the beep can sound and stares down at his phone with a disappointed frown.

“Yusaku, answer your phone.” he complains with a slight grumble. He leans against the counter near the grill and tries to think about what Yusaku could be doing during this hour of the day, but his mind draws a blank. “This isn’t like you…”

Yusaku is usually pretty quick to answer his cell when someone calls or sends a text, but Kusanagi has sent several unread text messages already and left three, increasingly concerned messages on Yusaku’s voicemail within the past hour and still hasn’t received any sort of reply yet. In their line of work with all the hacking and vigilante business, quick replies are necessary and with Ai’s recent decision to turn against everyone to further his own agenda, keeping in contact with each other is more important than ever before.

_ ‘What if he tried to go after Ai alone…’ _

He bites his lip and taps a finger against the counter, weighing his options. Knowing Yusaku and his tendency to take everything on himself, the possibility he somehow figured out where Ai is and went after him without saying a word about it is pretty high. Kusanagi hasn’t seen him since yesterday and a lot can happen in just a few hours…

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice says from behind, startling him out of his thoughts. “But are you open, by any chance?”

Kusanagi quickly pockets his phone and turns to see a pair of silvery-blue eyes gazing up at him from the other side of the counter. The owner’s snowy white hair catches in the sunlight, making him look like some kind of ghostly apparition and considering how he always appears when you least expect him, he may as well be one for how easily he slips in and out of sight.

“Revolver.” Kusanagi acknowledges with a slight nod. His gaze briefly shifts to the very obvious “Open” sign tacked onto Cafe Nagi’s folding menu board before raising an eyebrow at him. “Figured you found some new place to get hot dogs. It’s been a while.”

Revolver --rather, Kogami Ryoken-- lightly shrugs his shoulders. “Coffee, yes, but your cooking is rather distinct. Can’t say I enjoy anyone else’s hot dogs all that much.”

It’s amazing how polite the guy is in the real world and Kusanagi typically tolerates his presence because Yusaku likes him, but it’s hard to feel animosity towards him in the first place when he speaks to him so nicely. At first, Kusanagi wasn’t sure how to feel about his visits and he worried Yusaku was going to wind up getting hurt by him, but it hasn’t happened yet and...well, Ryoken is a good tipper.

“Except maybe Yusaku’s?”

The tease slips out before he really has a chance to think about it and Ryoken blinks, expression briefly looking confused. Kusanagi could be imagining it, but there’s a faint, almost unnoticeable blush of pink dusting the Hanoi leader’s cheeks. Seems he caught him off-guard.

“Y...yes, well, I suppose he’s gotten better...” 

Kusanagi decides to roll with it and locks this little tidbit of information away for later. He crosses his arms and hums in agreement, lips slipping into a tiny smile when he thinks about how far Yusaku has come. Poor kid barely knew how to operate the grill, at first.

“He’s nowhere near my level, but maybe one day, if he’s interested.” he says with a bit of pride. Someone as smart as Yusaku would be better off putting his coding skills to good use. Kusanagi himself has actually considered retiring the truck to go into programming full-time, once Jin is settled, but-- “Can’t say his customer service skills have improved any, but the regulars think he’s cute, so maybe it doesn’t matter too much.”

Ryoken hums faintly and doesn’t offer anything further on the subject. He almost seems uncomfortable with it because he looks away and shifts his posture a bit. It’s kind of amusing and some sadistic side of Kusanagi wants to keep pushing him, but he doesn’t. Ryoken doesn’t just visit for no reason, after all.

Kusanagi grabs his tongs and snaps them together to grab the young leader’s attention. “So, want the usual?”

Ryoken blinks up at him, eyes widening briefly. “Ah, yes. If you would, please.”

He seems fairly distracted and subdued today, which is unusual for him, and Kusanagi can’t help the frown he sends him as he sets to work cooking up the kid’s order. That makes two people not acting like them themselves today… At least this one isn’t missing. Kusanagi might not care about the guy all that much, but he knows Yusaku would worry himself sick if something happened to him. Plus, despite technically being their enemy (or perhaps “frenemy”, in this case), he isn’t that bad of a person. Kusanagi thinks he’s just got a lot of issues regarding his father that he can’t let go of. It is what it is.

“So, what’s the real reason you’re here?” Kusanagi asks, deciding they’ve both stalled enough. It’s time for business. “You only ever visit to see Yusaku. Is this about Ai?”

“More or less.” Ryoken admits. He glances behind Kusanagi, probably wondering if Yusaku is in the truck somewhere. “I have nothing new in terms of information to offer, but I wanted to speak with him about a few things. ...is he here?”

Kusanagi starts weighing his options again as he flips the sizzling hot dog over. He doesn’t know where Yusaku is and is worried he’s gone and done something stupid in an effort to deal with Ai himself. He wants to look. He wants to close up shop and head to Yusaku’s apartment right now just to make sure he’s not overreacting and Yusaku fell asleep or something, but...but something feels wrong. And Ryoken has a lot of connections. So if anyone can find Yusaku with little effort--

“Not at the moment.” he says, aware he took a little too long to answer. “Just me here. Takeru is held up with the Duel Club and you know Yusaku. He runs out the moment he hears your voice.”

Ryoken frowns, looking uncomfortable again. “...I see.”

Disappointment and something else flashes in Ryoken’s eyes and he looks every bit like a kicked puppy. Kusanagi wonders about it, but decides he’ll spare the kid another tease. Sometimes, he thinks whatever this weird back-and-forth thing is between him and Yusaku isn’t as one-sided as he first thought it to be, but as long as Yusaku isn’t hurt by it in the end, it’s not his place to say anything about it.

“Actually...I’m not exactly sure where he is.” Kusanagi continues and doesn’t miss the slight alarm that passes over Ryoken’s face. “He probably just fell asleep or something, but he hasn’t been answering his phone. It’s not like him.”

Ryoken’s brows knit. “Did he go to school today?”

Kusanagi’s lips twist and he focuses on finishing up the order, but the more he talks, the more worried he becomes. 

“No. He and Takeru share a few classes and he said Yusaku was absent today. I’ll be the first to admit he skips more than he should, but he’s pretty good about forging parent excuses and letting me know about it first.”

Ryoken blanches, looking absolutely scandalized. “He _ forges _ excuses to get out of school? And you _ let _him?”

Kusanagi takes offense to that and shrugs helplessly. “Look, I don’t like it either, but he’s been doing this long before we ever met. And it does come in handy when he’s gotta do the Playmaker thing so--”

Ryoken stares at him like Yusaku’s delinquent activities are somehow his fault and...well, okay. _ Fine. _ He admits he’s done nothing but enable this bad behavior in the three years they’ve known each other, but he can’t tell Yusaku to just quit now! Playmaker is still needed and for as long as he is, Kusanagi intends to stay by his side and be his shield. If that means helping him skip class once or twice, then so be it.

“_You _ talk to him about it then, since it bothers you so much.” Kusanagi says with a huff and bags up Ryoken’s order with a little more force than necessary. “I didn’t think the guy who tried to nuke the internet would care if his frenemy skipped a class or two.”

“_Frenemy? _” Ryoken looks incredulous. “That’s not even a word!”

Kusanagi raises his eyebrows and his eyes twinkle with an evil, challenging glint. “Then should I say _ boyfri-- _”

Ryoken quickly holds up a hand, looking distressed. “_ Stop_. This, this isn’t what I came here for. I just--”

Kusanagi sighs, a bit disappointed as he hands over the bagged order. “You’re surprisingly easy to tease…”

“_Excuse me? _”

Kusanagi waves him off and completely changes the subject. “If you want to speak to Yusaku, you’ll have to find him first. I was going to go check his apartment before I really started to worry, but maybe you ought to instead?”

The kid looks frazzled, but he still manages to pay for his order and hesitantly nods at the suggestion.

“Yes I--” Ryoken quickly shakes his head and covers his eyes with a hand. He takes a deep breath to steady himself before looking back up at him, impassive mask back in place. It’s Yusaku-levels of impressive. “I can do that. I’ll make sure he calls you back, as well.”

Ever polite, this one.

“Thanks. He means a lot to me.” And Kusanagi really, _ really _means that. He’s not totally sure handing this job over to Ryoken is the best idea, but...well, maybe it’ll make Yusaku happy. He’s sure the kid must just be skipping and hopefully napping...but still. “But he means a lot to all of us. ...I don’t think he really understands that.”

To his credit, Ryoken only looks mildly perturbed. He opens his mouth like he intends on saying something, but he shuts his mouth and doesn’t. He simply gives Kusanagi a polite, close-eyed nod and backs away with his bagged hot dog clutched in a death grip.

“I’ll find him.” he promises and then turns to leave without another word. 

He walks away pretty quickly, too, like he’s eager to escape. Kusanagi watches him go with a sigh, wondering if he pushed him too much. He then pulls his phone back out and sends Yusaku another series of texts.

_ remember when i said i wouldn’t meddle w/ whtever u got goin on w/ gun boy? _

_ might hve lied _

_ don’t hate me _

_ also ffs pls call me back im rly worried abt u _


	2. long is the shadow he casts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn this is late, but hey! more hugs! and feels because we can't do this without them whoops

As Yusaku sleeps, he dreams of a tall tower bursting with pink and blue flora and an intimidatingly large dragon with glistening purple scales and golden eyes that burn like a thousand suns. At the top of this tower, Yusaku finds himself caught within a trap. He’s been tossed inside a lavious room with everything a young teenager who has an affinity for technology might possibly need: books on advanced coding mechanisms, a high-powered laptop, endless amounts of coffee, and all the hotdogs he could ever want. Plus, no people around to tell him what to do or when to do it. It’s a paradise for an introvert and sounds so heavenly he thinks he might be able to enjoy the solitude, but there’s no exits to this room aside from a lone window that’s been closed off with wrought iron bars. Previously, there was a pink, silk curtain hanging from the window to block his view of the reality of his situation, but Yusaku tore that down in his panic to find an exit and now it lays pooled on the floor as he stares out into the distance, wondering when and how and why he’s been locked away here.

“Don’t you like it?” the dragon asks and curls around Yusaku’s shoulders with an affectionate nuzzle. His dark curls tickle at Yusaku’s neck and he swallows around a lump in his throat, body shivering from the contact. “I made this tower especially for you~”

“...why?” Yusaku hesitates to ask. He doesn’t want to admit that he’s a bit scared, but the feeling presses against his chest and makes it hard for him to breathe. “Why are you doing this?”

The dragon --now human because apparently he can do that-- smiles at him softly, golden eyes burning in a way that sets Yusaku’s nerves on edge. The arms around Yusaku’s neck tighten and the dragon’s cheek squishs against his, a soft sigh spilling from his lips like Yusaku’s question is bothersome but expected.

“Because you’re my treasure and I have to protect you.” he answers. A hand comes up to press trembling fingers against Yusaku’s face and the dragon sounds sad when he continues. “I don’t want anyone to take you away from me... I’m so lonely, Yusaku…”

“A--” 

Yusaku tries to say the dragon’s name, but it’s almost as if the name itself is a taboo, a curse he’s not allowed to repeat. His throat closes off when he attempts to say it and he goes mute, struggling to speak and growing increasingly agitated and frightened when he’s unable to. His hands fly to his throat and he chokes on air.

“!!!”

“There, there. Relax~” the dragon soothes. He reaches up to run fingers through Yusaku’s hair in a gentle pet. It does little to lessen the heavy feeling in Yusaku’s chest. “You can be happy here with me, Yusaku-chan~”

Yusaku tries to pull himself out of the dragon’s clutches, but he’s unable to move. It feels like he’s trying to pull himself through thick mud with the way both the dragon and the weight of Yusaku’s own feelings bear down on him. His arms and legs feel so heavy and he’s still gasping for air, desperate for his lungs to stop whatever they’re doing and _ work _.

“S...stop…”

The dragon only snuggles into him further and it’s like he’s being swallowed whole with the way the dragon clings to him. His arms slips down to wrap around Yusaku’s waist and his lips find their home against the nape of Yusaku’s neck and just behind his ears. He’s pulled into the dragon’s embrace more and more and can’t make himself do anything about it.

“S...stop, A--” Yusaku coughs around his name, frustration at being unable to say it bubbling over. “_ St-stop _ . ** _Stop_ **!”

So it comes as a great shock to Yusaku when he suddenly bolts up into a bed far softer than he’s ever experienced and like a spell has been lifted, air rushes into his lungs and he gasps and coughs like he’s just run a marathon. His body shudders and he takes a few minutes to get his breathing under control, confusion hitting him once he does and he looks around at the unfamiliar bedroom he’s in. Gone is the tower, the iron bars, and the illusion of a paradise made to cater to his exact preferences. He’s free, he thinks, but wonders why he still feels like he never left the tower.

“Where--” A pain stabs at his head and he winces. He presses a palm against his temple and squeezes his eyes shut as a fresh headache makes his stomach swim with nausea. “Not again…”

He vaguely remembers standing out in the rain and running into Ai and then...well, not much of anything else. Ai was acting weird, but that’s the standard for him. An Ai who isn’t acting strange is strange in and of itself, but Yusaku supposes this was different. It could have been the atmosphere’s fault because rain always makes the world less cheery, but Ai seemed a lot more sad in his SOLtis body than he ever did in his little Ignis one.

“Ooohhh, Master, you’re awake!”

Yusaku blinks up at the sound of an excited voice and squints as a blur of baby blue and pink dashes through the bedroom door and launches itself at him. He’s wholly unprepared for it and ends up flopping back onto the bed with a pair of arms tightly wound around his middle. The blur of color squeezes him tightly in a squishy hug, childish glee spilling over as they squeal.

“Roboppi missed you, Master!”

Yusaku rapidly blinks and looks down to see a head of blue and pink pressed against his chest. The voice is unfamiliar, but the sudden regression in speaking pattern is and Yusaku recognizes them from the footage Zaizen shared back during the group meeting.

“...Roboppi?” Yusaku’s hands find their way to Roboppi’s shoulder and the top of their head. He swallows thickly, feeling a little emotional all of a sudden. To say he hadn’t missed the little robot would be a lie. His apartment hasn’t been the same without Roboppi’s presence and after having the little robot in his life for so long, home hasn’t really felt like home without them near. “You’re really Roboppi…”

Robbopi looks up and gives Yusaku a wide grin. “Yup! Aniki made me smarter! I can do a lot of things better now! Like hugging~”

Robbopi goes back to nuzzling against Yusaku’s chest like an overly affectionate kitten and Yusaku huffs out something like a soft laugh. He ruffles Roboppi’s hair a bit and although he isn’t someone that likes being touched ever, he allows Roboppi to do as they like. It’s a little strange, but Roboppi is Roboppi and that’s all that really matters to Yusaku.

“Did you miss me, Master?” Roboppi asks and turns their head back up so they can look at Yusaku. Their eyes shimmer and their lips form a tiny pout. “Aniki was hogging you all to himself yesterday and I didn’t like it, but I learned that’s called jealousy! Emotions are weird… You did miss me, didn’t you, Master?”

Roboppi speaks like a child who’s just been born into the world and Yusaku supposes, in a way, they are something of a newborn. Their eyes glitter in eternal curiosity, but there’s something else there as well. Beyond the childish rambling and skipping from one subject to another, there’s a hopeful waver. They want to know if Yusaku missed them and it seems more important to them than anything else.

“Mm.” Yusaku nods and offers Roboppi a head pat the way he always does, a soft smile on his face. It’s one reserved especially for Roboppi. “It’s quiet at home without you there… But Roboppi, where are we? Where’s Ai?”

His brow creases and his smile falls when he thinks back on the events he remembers prior to waking up in...wherever here is. The last thing he remembers is speaking to Ai in the pouring rain. He remembers getting a pain in his head not unlike the throbbing one he has now, Ai reaching out to him to stop him from leaving, and then everything fading into a void of ink as he fell.

“This is our new home!” Roboppi chirps and their pleased grin widens at Yusaku’s increasingly perplexed look. They switch up their hugging tactics and wrap their arms around Yusaku’s neck instead. “We didn’t want you staying in Den City by yourself, so we came to get you! Aniki wants us all to live together again. Isn’t that great?”

It explains so much yet so little and the way it’s worded, Roboppi makes it sound like they’ve fled the city altogether and simply taken him along for the ride. But if that’s the case, then where are they and does anyone realize he’s gone?

Roboppi just beams at him as he thinks about how to approach this and their legs swing back and forth behind them as they giggle, content to continue lying all over him. They’re a little heavy and it’s a bit stifling being wallowed over like a bean bag chair, but Yusaku can’t find it in himself to push Roboppi away. Besides, his head is still pounding and he honestly feels too drained to bother resisting. Thinking about all the implications that Roboppi’s words might mean is taking a lot out of him as is.

“Mmm, are you hungry, Master? Do you want a drink?” Roboppi asks, head tilting. Then they seem to remember something because they freeze, their mouth forms a little “o” shape, and they quickly reach out to squish Yusaku’s face into their hands and inspect him with a critical eye, suddenly rather serious looking. “Oh… Master is still too warm…”

There’s a crease in their brow and Roboppi sounds...worried.

“You’re still flushed…” they mutter to themselves and brush a hand against Yusaku’s forehead and all around his cheeks. It’s weird and makes him feel self-conscious. “How do you feel? Does anything hurt? Do you need...uh, what is it humans take for fevers? Do you need that? A special medicine? I’ll get it for you!”

Roboppi’s high-energy, gleeful chatter quickly dissolves into soft, frantic fretting. This isn’t the first time he’s had Roboppi fussing over his health, but it is the first time he’s been faced with a Roboppi in artificial flesh who is able to emote their worries far more easily than ever before. It honestly scares him a bit to see so much emotion shining in those eyes, but at the same time, he’s touched. People typically don’t fuss over him like this. He grew up without parents for reasons he’s never bothered to find answers for and the orphanage, while considerate of his needs, merely saw him as another pitiful, homeless child. There had never been any real love there, so he’s used to not receiving it and he’s used to never feeling it. 

But then he got Roboppi, built them with his own hands, and for the first time in life, he had someone to call his own. They were nothing more than a little cleaning robot, in the beginning, but they meant everything to Yusaku, who lived his life in solitude because no one wanted a broken child for a son. It was like he made a sibling for himself, someone he could confide in without fear of judgment. 

A family. 

Roboppi’s presence made the silence bearable and made his loneliness a distant thought. It feels nice, he finds himself thinking, to have his feelings returned like this now. It’s a little daunting because part of him wants to shy away from Roboppi’s honest concern, but he doesn’t. He lets Roboppi fuss and feels a sense of peace in it. Still, he reaches up a hand to hold one of Roboppi’s so they’ll slow down and let him speak.

“It’s just a headache.” he tries to assure them, but Roboppi doesn’t look convinced and their frown deepens. “_Really_. I’m fine. It’ll go away eventually.”

“But you _ always _say you’re fine when you’re not...” Roboppi argues. They sit up finally and plop themselves over on the side of the bed, legs dangling and fists clenched. “You’re sick and I can tell. No one knows you better than I do, Master… I’m going to tell Aniki. He’ll know what to do!”

“Roboppi, wait!”

Yusaku tries to push himself up and grab hold of Roboppi’s poofy jacket, but they slip out of his reach before he can and quickly dash towards the bedroom door and run right out of the room.

“Roboppi!”

Stubbornly, Yusaku climbs out of the nest of blankets he’s been cocooned in and stands on wobbly legs. He takes a step, but his head swims when he tries to walk and he ends up plopping right back onto the bed with a groan, a feeling of intense nausea making his insides churn.

“_Ugh…_” A hand flies to his mouth and he squeezes his eyes shut, trying his hardest to will away the urge to vomit. 

It’s rare that a headache makes him nauseous, but sometimes, if he’s stressed out enough or hasn't gotten enough sleep or both (and, he supposes, this might be a case of both), it cripples him and makes him sick and useless. He hates being ill, but he hates not filling the silence with some activity more.

_ ‘I need to follow them.’ _ Despite this, he still pushes himself once his dizzy spells fades and forces his body to move even though it wants him to stop. _ ‘I have to know where I am and what Ai’s plans are.’ _

Through sheer determination and a stubbornness that would make even the toughest man envious, Yusaku manages to reach the bedroom door without toppling over. His hand wraps around the doorknob, but just as he’s about to turn it, the door suddenly flies open, he loses his balance, and begins to fall forward. 

“Woah there!”

Thankfully, he doesn’t hit the ground at all. Because instead of slamming into the hardwood flooring, he falls into pillowy arms instead. The arms pull him up and hug him to a warm chest and when he looks up to see who they are, he sees Ai standing in the doorway with a pout on his lips and a sigh in his voice.

“Jeez, you can’t even stand… What are you doing out of bed this early for anyway? Roboppi tells me you still have a fever, you know.” Ai’s expression is stern and Yusaku is a bit put off by it. “I had to send them off to get medicine and everything. Why can’t you just rest like a normal human?”

“I’m _ fine_.” Yusaku insists. He takes a moment to right himself so he isn’t squished to Ai’s chest in an awkward position anymore, but Ai still keeps a hand hovering near his back. “You just surprised me. I wasn’t expecting the door to open like that.”

Ai throws a hand in the air in a little shrug. “I was worried. Figured you’d be better by now, you know? But _ clearly _I must continue to be your doting nurse because just look at you! You poor, feverish boy~”

Yusaku’s eyes narrow and he pouts at the teasing lit in Ai’s voice. “Shut up...”

Ai sticks his tongue out. “Make me. I’m taller than you now, so you can’t just press a button and mute me anymore, Yusaku-chan~”

Yusaku considers that with a hum as his eyes roam the SOLtis body. “Are you sure about that? I bet there’s a wire in there somewhere I can cut. Snip, snip.”

Yusaku makes a snipping motion with his fingers and Ai gasps dramatically. He wraps his arms around himself and sniffles in a fake cry.

“Pervert!” he accuses. “That’s indecent! You’re cruel!”

Yusaku leans in closer and makes the snipping motion again, expression deadpan. “_Snip._”

“_Waahhh! _ Yusaku-chan is a deviant!”

“Then don’t tease me anymore and I won’t be forced to rewire your circuits.” Yusaku finishes with a sigh. He finally takes a moment to look around at the grandiose bedroom and his eyebrows knit. “This place is bigger than my apartment…”

“Right?” Yusaku grunts as Ai wraps himself around his shoulders with a cheeky grin. “I gave you the biggest bedroom in the suite~ It’s even got its own bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and everything! It’s really shiny and you can see yourself naked on like every surface.”

Yusaku blinks, slowly, expression blank.

“That’s...nice, I guess.” he offers lamely. He doesn’t quite know what to make of it all just yet. He still doesn't even know where _ here _is. “Why exactly do I suddenly have this huge bedroom again?”

“Uh, well…”

Ai’s lips thin and he looks away like he’s nervous. He shuffles and sways and Yusaku protests because Ai wiggling around like he is is making Yusaku move around with him.

“_Ai._”

“Sorry! Sorry. Just uh...weellll, Roboppi told you, didn’t they?” Ai lets go of Yusaku and twirls around into the bedroom. His smile is glowing but somehow his eyes are sad. “It’s our new home! I made it special, just for us~”

_ “I made this tower especially for you~” _

Yusaku blinks as bits of his dream slip into his memory and he crosses his arms, huddling in on himself with a shiver. The dragon with the burning eyes had a voice like the call of a siren and in ways, it reminds him of Ai. He’s still his goofy, annoying self, but something about his new form casts a long shadow over his heart. He’s not the same Ai Yusaku knew before the fight with Bohman ripped the other Ignis to shreds and it shows in little nuances.

Yusaku’s frown brings Ai pause and he opens his mouth, only to quickly close it with a twist to his lips.

“...I didn’t mean to.” Ai continues. He takes hold of one of Yusaku’s hands and pulls him back towards the bed. Yusaku merely watches him and allows this. “I was going to talk to you about it first, but--...well, when I saw you standing out in the rain, my chest _ hurt_. You looked so sad and lonely. Just like, just like _ me_.”

He suspected as much, but hearing Ai admit it in that defeated tone is too much. Yusaku digs his heels into the carpet and forces Ai to stop. He pulls his hand away, shaking his head, hardly able to believe what he’s hearing. Because _ no_. This isn’t something people just _ do_. Ai should know this more than anyone because he’s the product of an abduction!

“So you _ kidnapped _ me?” Yusaku asks in disbelief. Ai has done a lot of stupid, asinine things in the time that Yusaku has known him, but _ this_? This isn’t some harmless prank! “Ai, you’re not a villain. The stuff with SOL is confusing enough, but now you’re taking people as hostages?”

Ai waves him off with a nervous chuckle. His expression is taunt and he looks three seconds away from bursting into tears. Yusaku doesn't want to consider the possibility, but if anyone can force a SOLtis body to cry, Ai can through sheer willpower.

“Aw, come on, Yusaku. It’s not like that! I, I just--” his lips tremble and some part of Yusaku feels guilty for making him look like that. No, not just some part. _ All _ of him _ aches_. “I mean, kidnapping is such a negative word! I didn’t _ kidnap _you. You’re not even really a kid to begin with!”

Yusaku’s fingers curl into his palms and he can feel the sting of his nails as they bite into his skin. His shoulders shake and the pounding in his head becomes worse. He’s not sure what kind of face he’s making, but something in his expression seems to spook Ai because he immediately starts backpedaling, tone turning desperate.

“Okay, _ okay!_” Ai relents with a raise of his hands in surrender. He looks alarmed and his eyes are glossy. “I did kind of maybe cart you off to another city while you were sleeping, but I had the best intentions! Honest!”

Yusaku gives him an exasperated glare. “_That’s still kidnapping._”

“O-okay, _ okay_, but consider this!” Ai gently takes both of Yusaku’s shaking fists within his hands and offers up his most charming smile and sultriest voice. “I love you~”

It’s like he’s suddenly been shoved into the role of a shoujo manga protagonist. Ai’s long eyelashes flutter as he brings Yusaku’s hands up to his lips. He kisses one hand and then the other and presses his forehead to them, as if in prayer. It’s hard not to feel something when confronted with such a handsome face and soft confession. His cheeks feel a bit hotter than before and he blinks owlishly, taken by surprise and unable to say a word in response. 

But it’s only a brief moment of being caught off guard. Yusaku grounds himself and his shoulders hunch as he rips his hands out of Ai’s in a huff. 

“Don’t say something you don’t mean.” He hates how his voice quivers. “Don’t lie to me like that. You know I don’t like it.”

And he feels drained with that one sentence. His heart feels heavy, his body feels weak. If Ai’s intention is to break his heart along with his trust, then he’s succeeding and Yusaku hates everything about it. He wants to go back to sleep and pretend he never left his apartment.

“...”

He turns and tries to walk somewhere, _ anywhere _Ai isn’t, but Ai panics and throws his arms around Yusaku in a last ditch effort to stop him from leaving. He squeezes him to his chest and Yusaku tries to fight him because he doesn't want to be held, he doesn’t want to be touched! But he stills and his eyes burn when Ai speaks again, voice far quieter and more heartbroken than he’s ever heard it sound.

“But I _ do _mean it.” He presses his face into the crook of Yusaku’s neck and hugs him even tighter. “That’s why I brought you here. You can hate me all you want, but you’re all I have and I want to keep you safe! I don’t, I don’t want you to disappear on me, too...”

_ ‘Why would I disappear?’ _ Yusaku wants to ask, but he merely bites down on his lip and rubs at his eyes because they sting and the last thing he wants to do his cry. _ ‘You’re the one always-- _’

“Safe from who?” he asks instead, quietly because it’s all he can muster.

Ai pulls back and his eyes shimmer like stars with a burning emotion Yusaku can’t say he understands. One of his hands slips up to cup the back of Yusaku’s head and his fingers play with his hair a bit, a sad frown pulling at his lips.

“..._ me_.”

There’s no warning when it happens and Yusaku is a bit starstruck when it does. One moment Ai’s fingers are in his hair, caressing and lightly scratching in a way that makes his toes curl and the next, he’s being pulled.

Ai smashes their lips together like he’s dying of thirst, like Yusaku is the only thing that can pull him back from the abyss he built for himself. And Yusaku does nothing but freeze, eyes wide, unsure of whether to let himself fall into the abyss alongside him or fight to banish it like he knows he needs to. 

Regardless, it’s a funny story, but that’s how Yusaku ends up sharing his first kiss with a machine who couldn’t decide if they were a military general or a vampire.

-x-x-

Ryoken has the world’s worst headache drilling spikes into his skull. It’s the kind that squeezes his head, makes his knees feel weak, and causes his stomach to flip and flop in ways that break every known law of physics that’s been established since before he was born. He hasn’t felt like this in years because he’s generally very careful with his health, but he knows it’s purely caused by built up stress and every cell in his body is screaming at him to lie down and go into hibernation for at least three weeks. 

“If only.” he mumbles to himself and then scrubs at his face with his hands. The artificial light from his computer screen is starting to burn his eyes. He should probably take a break but-- “If only…”

But that won’t solve the cause of his stress and it certainly won’t make him feel any better about himself. Not that such a thing is possible. His sense of self-worth generally isn’t that high to begin with, but that isn’t a subject he really likes to think about. He’ll probably need to deal with it one day, but not any day soon and especially not now when Yusaku needs his help.

Yesterday, he traveled back onto the mainland to seek Yusaku out and discuss things concerning Ai with him. He felt it important because Yusaku was being too quiet about the whole thing and he didn’t want him to suffer away in silence because he knows Yusaku cares for the Ignis still. Ai’s sudden decision to turn on all of them must be hurting Yusaku, who puts far too much trust into people capable of hurting him, more than anyone else and while Ryoken doesn’t think it’s really his place to give advice on the subject, he still felt like he should say something to Yusaku before things really started heating up. But his visit to Cafe Nagi turned out to be for naught because Yusaku wasn’t there and as he discovered, wasn’t anywhere to be found at all.

Empty apartment, an unexplained absence from school, not returning phone calls or texts, etc… It’s like Yusaku up and vanished from the face of the Earth overnight. The neighbors didn’t seem to know anything, either. One of them, a young man with tanned skin and a head of dark hair, mentioned seeing Yusaku leave his apartment earlier but had nothing more to offer.

_ “He looked upset about something.” _ the young man told him with a small frown. _ “Kind of weird cause he’s usually so stoic and cool. Hope he’s okay…” _

Something itched at the back of Ryoken’s mind after hearing that and he did the only thing he could think of doing and that was to hack into Den City’s traffic cameras as well as search through Yusaku’s network login history. He expected as much, but all of his login data was mysteriously missing and no signs of Playmaker have been reported anywhere within the network. It was a similar case with Yusaku’s computer. The boy simply kept no records of himself anywhere and while part of Ryoken felt a bit of pride in knowing his rival did well to keep his identity hidden, the rest of him felt a surge of frustration that he couldn’t find anything useful.

The traffic cameras, on the other hand, proved to be exactly what he needed because while searching through them, he was actually able to find Yusaku. The footage itself is hard to pick up details from because of the abysmal weather conditions --and why was Yusaku out in such weather to begin with?-- but there’s no mistaking that pastel colored hair or thin body. He looks even smaller with his clothes sticking to his body like that…

Ryoken’s eyes narrow, lips pulling into a deep frown.

“Where did you go?” he asks as he lets the footage play. Yusaku remains standing on the sidewalk, just letting himself get more and more soaked for no reason. “You can’t just disappear on me now…”

He remembers Yusaku’s neighbor’s words and feels something in his chest drop. If he’s being honest, he wants nothing more than for Yusaku to just stay out of this fight because it’s clear, especially in the footage, that Ai’s betrayal is weighing on him to the point he’s becoming depressed over it. It’s the very thing he was worried about from the start and he knows how stubborn Yusaku can be, so that’s why he wanted to talk to him in the first place.

“Hm?”

As he continues to watch the footage, it seems to glitch and suddenly there’s another person standing next to Yusaku. They’re tall and holding up an umbrella for Yusaku to step under and while he can’t see their face, there’s no mistaking that ridiculous outfit. Ai sticks out, even in the rain.

“The Dark Ignis…” he breathes and anger builds the longer he watches the glitching footage. “Of course this would be your doing.”

He reaches a point where Yusaku is carried off into a black car and has to pause the video to pinch the bridge of his nose. Part of him has been wanting to give Ai the benefit of the doubt, but this footage is damning. There’s no getting around the fact that Yusaku is being taken without his consent.

“If you hurt him…”

He lets the threat linger in the air and considers what his next move should be. There’s no telling where Ai and his little protege have taken Yusaku and he studies the footage hard to search for anything he can use when he spots it. The car’s license plate! It’s not totally in view, but there’s just enough for him to work with. He’ll have to clean the picture up and do some enhancements before he can run a scan for plates with potential matches, but it’s enough. He’s found his lead.

Ai has a lot of explaining to do once he finds him.


	3. deal with the devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no real hugs this chapter, sadly. but! next chapter will have an overabundance of them all for yusaku~ until then, hope you enjoy~

“Sorry, but I’ve never seen him before.”

“Yeah, same. He’s cute, though. Boyfriend?”

As Ryoken takes back the picture of Yusaku he lent to the two strangers, he does his utmost to quell the rising heat he feels creeping up his neck. For the most part, he manages to remain impassive, but he can’t quite smother the tinge of embarrassment present in his voice and it shows on the dark-haired stranger’s face when he grins knowingly.

“Your face says no, but your heart is singing a love song, friend.” Ryoken pointedly looks away as they chuckle. If his face has gotten perhaps a tad bit pinker from their comment, neither he nor their blonde friend say anything about it. “I got an eye for passion and yours stick outs~”

His blonde friend elbows his side with an eye roll. “Alito, don’t tease him. It might not be official yet.”

Right. Yes. This...is entirely the wrong kind of conversation Ryoken wants to have. The only reason he even asked them about Yusaku in the first place was because he’s a bit lost in this confusingly huge cluster of a city and the stranger with the long blonde hair took an interest in his plight.

“Thank you anyway.” Ryoken says as he tucks Yusaku’s picture back into his breast pocket and then quietly, he continues to himself in a mumble. “I’m startling to think this was a fool’s errand…”

He stayed up all night flexing his elite hacker skills and searching through database after database of car registration records within Den City and all cities within a 200-yard radius. It helps that he has a super computer at his fingertips and more connections than he knows what to do with (plus, his secret artificial intelligence project, Pandor, helped split up the workload), but it’s something that still took up a huge chunk of time. The license plate he snagged from the stolen traffic cam footage only showed the first half despite his best efforts to catch the whole thing, but by a stroke of luck, the plate turned out to be a custom and one registered in a city about an hour’s drive away.

Heartland City. 

It’s a huge, bustling metropolis that’s the birthplace of XYZ summoning and is every duelist’s dream, a one-of-a-kind playground. It holds a very prestigious, absolutely wild dueling tournament every year and thousands of people flock to the city for both business and pleasure because it caters to every interest and provides a wealth of entertainment. Ryoken came here once a long time ago, back before the Lost Incident tore a wound in his heart. He doesn’t remember much of his visit, but he remembers playing with someone older than him and remembers this is the place he first discovered he loved dueling. Maybe not so much anymore, but the feelings are still there.

But the problem with this city is it’s way, _ way _too large. It’s practically a maze and even with a map, Ryoken finds it hard to navigate. According to the car registration records he found, the car Ai’s protege was driving belonged to some rich CEO’s kid who lived in the upper echelons of the city, but it seems --quite recently in fact-- they gifted it off to someone else. Someone named Fujiki Aichi.

_ Ai-chi. _ Is he serious? Does the Dark Ignis have no sense of imagination? Excusing the obvious extension of his given name, the surname is far too blatant. Anyone with half a brain (and who knew his connection to Yusaku) would realize it’s him.

But finding the sneaky Ignis is proving to be more and more difficult, even with the slip-ups. The address registered in the database turned out to be a fake, but with a little bit more sleuthing courtesy of Pandor, he found out someone of the same name is living in the heart of the city. It’s in an upscale area near Heartland Tower, but he hasn’t been able to find the building and regrets not bringing a car of his own with him.

Not that he can legally drive a car without a license. He has a boating license, naturally, but a car? Not at all. He’s always been something of a glorified mermaid.

With a sigh, he bids the two strangers farewell and turns to walk away with a curt nod.

“Hope you find him!”

“Good luck.”

And he certainly needs all the luck he can get. Wandering this city blind is going to wear him out. Worse still, he hasn’t slept a wink, so he’s like the walking dead only stuffed up to his eyeballs in caffeine. Which did absolutely nothing for his stress headache, mind you.

_ ‘I can’t take this.’ _ He sighs again and rubs at his temples with a hand. _ ‘I need painkillers...and more caffeine.’ _

Spectre would have a fit if he knew just how much coffee Ryoken has consumed within the past few hours. He’d be even more distraught to learn Ryoken hadn’t slept. He’s always mother henning him, picking and pushing and sometimes even forcing Ryoken to keep healthy habits. He appreciates it. He really does, but sometimes it’s a bit much.

“Hm?” Ryoken pauses in his trek to...wherever it is his feet are carrying him and looks up and notices he’s walking by a drugstore. His eyes light up a bit and he immediately heads on over to it. “Oh finally…”

Painkillers. He really, _ really _needs something for his head so he can think more clearly and plan out his next move. More caffeine can come afterward, but first and foremost, he’s got to kill this headache.

The store is nice and cool when he wanders in and there’s barely any customers. It’s quiet and calming and he takes a breath to relax his taut body before continuing on and wandering the isles in search of something suitable.

“Mm, that’s too strong… Hm, that’s not strong enough…”

After a few minutes of searching and considering, something finally catches his eye and he reaches out to take it, but at that same moment, another smaller hand comes into contact with his. They bump into each other and the small box of painkillers they’d both been reaching for flops off the shelf and smacks against the tile floor.

“Oh, I apologize.” he’s quick to say. He politely retracts his hand and turns to the other person with a small, apologetic smile. “I didn’t--”

But he freezes and his eyes grow wide when he recognizes a bob of blue hair with tufts of pink and orange. It’s an odd sight seeing Ai’s protege carrying an arm full of medicine and blinking up at him with a curious look on their face, but the glow from the diamond in their neck is damning and Ryoken reminds himself that this childlike appearance belies the mind of a rogue A.I. bent on bringing misfortune to others.

All at once, his anger flares up and he hisses: “_You_.”

Roboppi, if memory serves, grins up at him like they aren’t at all enemies and raises an arm into the air with a little hop.

“Hi, Revolver-sensei!” they chirp, rather loudly.

Ryoken shushes them and quickly glances around to check if anyone overheard the near shout, but the few people in the store don’t seem to be paying them any mind and so he relaxes if only a little.

“Don’t use that name so loudly!” he says in a harsh whisper. “We’re in public and--never mind! Where’s Yusaku? What did you and the Dark Ignis do with him?”

Roboppi glances up at the ceiling in confusion and taps a finger against their cheek. A few of the medicine boxes they’re carrying fall out and smack against the floor in the process. Ryoken winces at the sound because suddenly he’s on edge and everything is just too loud and he didn’t expect to run into one of Yusaku’s kidnappers in a drugstore, of all places. It’s kind of stupid when he thinks about it.

“Why would we do something to him? He’s the one that’s sick and _ I’m _taking care of him!” Roboppi makes a motion with their arm to show Ryoken their armful of items, but more simply fall to the floor. “See? I’m doing pharmaceutical work! So don’t be weird.”

Ryoken looks from Roboppi’s unimpressed face down to the various pillboxes scattered on the floor and feels his mind slow to a crawl. It’s probably the headache’s fault he can’t process this, but he can’t process this. It doesn’t make any sense and he doesn't know how to go about dealing with it.

“...why do you have so many pillboxes?” he decides to ask and really, he’s a bit afraid to because no human could possibly stomach that many different combinations of drugs and live. “I realize you’re not human, but...you do realize no human on the planet can stomach that, right?”

Roboppi huffs and clenches their hands into fists. “I know that, but I don’t know what to get him! There’s so many different kinds!”

In a fit of frustration, they let the rest of the medicine fall to the ground and glare up at him, cheeks puffy. If it were possible for a SOLtis to shed tears, Ryoken thinks this one’s eyes might be filled with them.

Roboppi’s shoulders sag and all their anger shrivels up in an instant. “I just want Master to feel better… He has a fever and his head hurts and hugs don’t help that and--”

...oh. Ah...hm.

Their shoulders are shaking. It almost looks like they may start sobbing in the middle of the aisle, in fact. Rationally, he knows they can’t. He _ knows _they can’t because SOLtis weren’t built to function that way, but something about the way Roboppi stands there trembling and upset because they want to help Yusaku and can’t strikes a chord in him and his own shoulders slump.

“...well…” he quickly scans the array of medicine at their feet and picks one he recognizes up. “This one should do the trick.”

Roboppi blinks up from their depressed slump and their mouth opens a bit in awe as Ryoken delicately places the chosen box back into their hands. They look from the box back up to him and their eyes shimmer, a wide grin slowly spreading across their lips.

“Master was right. You are kind when you want to be.” they tell him and giggle when he scowls. “This will really help? Just the one?”

Ryoken nods. “It’s specifically formulated to deal with fevers and pain. It may make him sleep, too, but if he’s feverish, then rest is something he really needs anyway.”

Roboppi giggles and makes a fist pump. “Yes!”

He honestly has no idea why he’s helping this A.I. They helped kidnap Yusaku and whisk him away from his home and friends (and him). But he supposes they remind him, just a little bit, of a younger self who often had to care for himself while ill. Besides, if Yusaku truly is sick, it’s better to get him what he needs now so he can have it once Ryoken takes him back.

Speaking of which--

“You didn’t answer me before, but where is Yusaku?” he asks again. He’s much calmer than he was previously, but no less on edge. “There’s a lot of people worried about him. You can’t keep him locked away forever.”

Roboppi pouts a little. “He’s just fine with us. We’re gonna live together from now on and it’s no one else’s business where we go. He’s _ my _ family, not _ yours_.”

Ryoken’s brow knits and his gaze takes on a dangerous glint. “That may be, but there are three reasons why I’m here and one of them is I made a promise I intend to keep. Wherever you go, _ I’ll follow_. You _ won’t _ escape my sight. I’ll handcuff you to my wrist if I have to, but you’re _ not _ leaving this store without me. _ Now take me to Yusaku._”

Roboppi matches his glare with one of their own and they remain locked in a heated staring contest for a while longer. Eventually, Roboppi makes a breathy sound and their face lights up.

“Okay.”

Ryoken blinks once, then twice, then three times, and then he squints. He must have misheard.

“Excuse me?”

Roboppi grins, sets a hand against their hip, and gives him this _ look _like he’s stupid. He certainly feels it right now.

“I _ said_, okay!” Roboppi repeats and then they point a finger at Ryoken with a stern expression. “But there’s a catch! If you don’t do it, then I won’t take you. I gotta know you’re trustworthy and won’t snitch our location to anyone.”

Ah, that makes more sense. He thought that seemed far too easy, but hearing that there’s a catch? Of course. That’s better...sort of.

Ryoken closes his eyes briefly and huffs out a humorless laugh. “Fair. What are your terms then?”

Roboppi curls their fingers and holds up a pinky. “You gotta pinky promise it.”

Somewhere in the distance, a record screeches to a halt as does Ryoken’s ability to process information. He looks down at the offered pinky like it’s a foreign concept, completely alien. He opens his mouth to say something in response, but his words catch. He’s too baffled to reply.

“A...are...are you _ serious _?”

Roboppi purses their lips and thrusts their pinky a little closer. “Only monsters would break a pinky promise. So either you do it or I’m leaving you tied up to one of these shelves. Swear you won’t tell anyone else about where we are and I’ll let you come with me as a guest to visit Master.”

Roboppi is so deathly serious it’s almost comical and it takes Ryoken a very long, drawn-out moment to process what he’s hearing, but once it finally clicks and he understands the challenge he’s faced with, he hesitates. His face feels hot.

“...I can’t believe this…” he mumbles to himself. But he gives in and leans down a bit to wrap his own pinky around Roboppi’s. They do a little hand bob to solidify the contract and Roboppi’s expression brightens when he finally responds. “I promise to keep this a secret.”

“On threat of death!”

“That’s a bit much.”

“_Say it._”

Ryoken sighs, a bit aggravated. “_Fine_. On threat of death, I swear not to reveal your location to anyone. It’ll be our secret. You have my word.”

“Accepted!” Roboppi’s gleeful grin burns like a fire. Ryoken can’t help but feel like he’s made a pact with the devil. “Before we go, I want to get Master something to hug when I’m not around. Help me pick something out. Oh and you can have this. My treat!”

Roboppi reaches over to pick up the medicine Ryoken had wanted earlier and places it in his hands. Ryoken stares down at it and feels his headache grow worse.

_ ‘How did I get myself into this mess?’_

Meanwhile, in another area of the city, a poor teenager is being smothered to death in hugs by a clingy android who kissed him in a moment of desperation.

"Ai...get off me. You're _heavy_."

"_Noooo_..."

Yusaku's sigh is loud, but he feels like the sound of his frantically beating heart is louder.


	4. date with a madman

In the aftermath of their argument over what does and does not count as kidnapping --spoilers: it _ does_, Ai--, they don’t talk about the kiss for reasons neither of them voice. They don’t talk about the way Ai cradled Yusaku within his arms like a delicate porcelain doll, or the soft way his lips and hands explored Yusaku’s jaw and neck and hair with careful, reverent touches, or the way he clung to Yusaku as if he’d suddenly be ripped out of his arms and taken somewhere far, far away. They don’t talk about Yusaku’s stiff reaction to it or what Ai’s desperate, mumbled apologies into his skin meant.

They just don’t discuss it, mostly because Ai doesn't give him the chance to ask. 

When Yusaku finally had to pull away to give himself room to breathe, Ai buried himself within Yusaku’s arms and refused to look at him. Perhaps he was too scared of the reaction he might receive, but he made it impossible to speak. There was only more desperate clinging, Ai brokenly asking if they could please stay like this for a little while, and the words Yusaku had wanted to say shriveled up with a pang in his chest.

_ “Okay.” _ is the only thing he’d been able to respond with and they remained that way until Yusaku’s legs went numb.

But now--

“Your throne awaits~!” Ai announces to the empty apartment in singsong. 

Of course, now he’s back to his typical, dramatic self like nothing ever happened and it irks Yusaku a bit how easily he can slip in and out of moods. But Yusaku is already a bit sour at him for being carried around like a princess. So he might be somewhat biased on the matter.

Ai twirls off the last step of the stairs with a flutter of his cape and skips into the living room with Yusaku clinging to him for dear life. That ends fairly quickly, however, when Ai unceremoniously drops him onto the couch with a playful grin pulling at his lips. He makes a grand, sweeping gesture with one hand while the other rests against his chest. 

“A change of scenery, especially for you, mon chéri~” he says with a graceful bow.

Yusaku puffs a lock of hair out of his eyes indignantly and pushes himself up into a proper sitting position. “I could have walked down on my own…”

Despite many verbal complaints and unproductive squirming, Ai ended up carrying him down the stairs like a groom carrying his bride into their honeymoon suite. Ai insisted because Yusaku was indeed a bit unsteady on his feet, but there was a lot of flourish and bouncing and Yusaku feared he’d be accidentally dropped while they descended. He’d definitely protested that, too, but it seems once he clung to Ai in a desperate attempt not to become sick from the animated way Ai chose to skip about, Ai calmed down a bit and with a slow twitch of his lips, pressed a kissed into Yusaku’s hair.

They haven’t discussed that, either.

Ai tuts and wags a finger at him. “Not on my watch, Yusaku-chan~ You’re much too feverish and wobbly for that. What if you fell? And hit your head? Or broke a _ bone_?!”

Ai plops down next to him with a hand over his head like he’s swooning, like the very thought of Yusaku injuring himself in such a way is making him weak at the knees. He rolls over then and flops back onto Yusaku like a heavy, lazy sloth and Yusaku grunts when he’s wrapped back up into a squishy hug.

“I don’t know what I’d do if my poor Origin suddenly collapsed!” Ai frets with an overly dramatic moan of displeasure. He nuzzles into Yusaku’s neck and Yusaku squirms because it’s a little tickly. “Can you imagine? Why, I’d have to put you in a cast and carry you around everywhere!”

Ai pulls back to flash Yusaku a carnivorous grin, eyes aglow with promises of mischief. “That sounds delightful, actually. The carrying part.”

Yusaku pushes at his face and turns away, trying hard not to let his expression change. “It does _ not_. I don’t like being carried.”

“Awww, but you let me carry you before!” Ai openly pouts, bottom lip sticking out and puppy dog eyes wide and glossy and in full-force. He pushes himself closer despite the hand Yusaku pushes at his chest and whines in a petulant tone. “_Pleeeeeeaaase_?”

Yusaku tries to lean back despite the arms wound around him and pushes back harder. “That won’t work on me.”

Ai’s expression falls flat and he looks mildly annoyed. But that changes just as quickly as anything else concerning Ai’s moods and his voice dips into something soft and vulnerable and almost shy.

“What if I...kissed you again?”

Yusaku freezes at that, eyes going wide as dinner plates and heart threatening to beat bruises into his ribs. He turns, slowly, a question sitting at the tip of his tongue, but they lock gazes and Yusaku feels trapped. The Ignis’ eyes are shimmering so heavily in emotion that the only word Yusaku can form is his name. 

“Ai…”

He’s not sure, exactly, why the prospect of kissing him again makes his pulse quicken and his mind grind to a halt. Whether in this form or his little squishy Ignis one, Ai’s charm is undeniable. He’s lovable, goofy, and really the exact sort of personality Yusaku never expected from something created from him. It’s tiring at times, honestly, but he doesn’t hate it. Ai is Ai, after all.

Yusaku’s lips tremble in anticipation and he unconsciously licks them as he thinks back to their kiss from earlier. Ai notices this and huffs out something that isn’t quite a laugh, eyes closing with a small shake of his head.

“I shouldn’t be doing this…” he mumbles to himself, almost wistful. But as soon as it’s there, it’s gone again as Ai uses Yusaku’s unguarded moment to crash into him and pin him to the cushions in a lazy embrace. “_Ahhh_, but Yusaku-chan is just so cute! Did you think I was going to kiss you again? Did you _ want _me to~?” 

He’s teasing him about it now, but Yusaku actually isn’t sure about the question and that bothers him. He hadn’t minded it and if it were to happen again, he--

“_No_.” he answers and tries to turn his head away, but Ai decides, _ oh_, and nuzzles into Yusaku’s neck and shoulder, making him jump and squirm. “Ai!”

“You’re the one that moved~” 

The vibrations from his sing-songy comment hit Yusaku the wrong way and he can’t help the short, breathy laugh it drags out of him. To that, Ai makes an interested noise and Yusaku can feel the grin pressed against his collarbone widen.

“Oho? What’s this? Is Yusaku-chan ticklish here~?” Ai taunts and Yusaku shivers because Ai making a discovery like this is _ terrible_. “The Ice Princess has a weakness? Oh no, how _ tragic _.”

He makes a point to hum in an over-exaggerated way and sighs like he’s pondering over the bizarre possibility of it. It’s _ mean _ because it _ tickles _and Yusaku makes a breathy little noise because of this. It’s helpless, almost like a squeak in how high his voice goes. 

“_Ai! _”

He pushes at Ai’s shoulders and struggles, but Ai blows a puff of air against his skin again and he really can’t help it. He really, _ really _ can’t. But he laughs and it’s something that’s more like a breathless giggle in how it lasts longer than he’d have liked for it to. For a moment, he thinks Ai is going to keep teasing him because _ it’s Ai _ and he’s a bottomless pit of mischievousness, but he doesn’t do anything more than simply pull back once Yusaku’s giggling fades. His smile, when Yusaku is able to look, is amused and his eyes are twinkling in an almost dreamy way. 

“_Wow_.” he breathes, tone fond, nearly starstruck with infatuation. “I didn’t know you could make sounds like that… What a discovery!”

Yusaku purses his lips and pushes at his shoulders again. “Get _ off_.”

“_Oh my_, is that a blush I see~?”

Yusaku, embarrassed as he feels, actually whines. “_Ai_.”

Ai chuckles and finally pushes himself away, much to Yusaku’s relief. He’s confused enough as is, but having Ai all over him makes his head spin.

“As much as I _ love _hearing you call my name out,” Ai continues as he stands and then claps his hands together as if in prayer. “I think we’ve played around enough for one day~ Time for lunch!”

Yusaku blinks at that and remains in the position Ai left him in for a moment longer. 

“Lunch?” he asks with a slight narrowing of his eyes, like the idea of food is a foreign concept. Lunch, especially. “What time is it?”

“Mmm, just a little past when you usually sit on the roof for your lunch period.” Ai muses and then raises his eyebrows. “Or should I call it your napping period instead?”

Yusaku huffs at the jab and finally sits up. He smoothes the mess Ai made of the pajamas he’s wearing and offers him a careless shrug. Because really, it’s not _ his _ fault the roof makes for a good snoozing location. It’s quiet and calm and Takeru certainly never seems to mind being used as a pillow. Aoi even occasionally offers a spare jacket as a blanket and shushes anyone that dares try to speak too loudly.

“It is what it is.”

Ai tsks and frowns down at him. “Well, not today, Sleeping Beauty, because you’re going to eat something besides hot dogs and like it!”

Ai pauses then and taps a finger against his lips, looking unsure. “...maybe? Never cooked before, but it can’t be _ that _ hard...”

Yusaku stares at him like he’s sprouted tentacles out of the SOLtis’ back.

“You’re going to what.”

“Cook! I was thinking pancakes? Shaped like me? Maybe with fruit? They seem kind of easy and this kitchen has all kinds of--” Ai pauses in his planning, notices the way Yusaku’s lips thin, and sets both hands on his hips with the biggest pout Yusaku has ever seen him make. “Don’t give me _ that _ look! It’s just following a recipe! Come on, have a little faith in your partner here...”

He’s trying to. That’s why he hasn’t outright tried to walk out of the apartment or call someone yet. Whatever Ai is doing and whatever possessed him to whisk Yusaku away into the night, it’s something he wants to take responsibility for. Ai isn’t a bad guy. He’s overly emotional and overreacts, but he’d never hurt someone (aside from Queen). _ He’s _ the one hurting and it’s clear in the way he looks at Yusaku and holds him like every touch will be his last that _ something _beyond losing the other Ignis has torn a hole in his heart. 

Still, that’s a different matter that has nothing to do with Ai’s unknown culinary skills. Yusaku continues to look skeptical and decides to point out the obvious because apparently it’s a little detail that has escaped Ai’s calculations. 

“You don’t have taste buds.”

Ai’s mouth falls open and he places a hand against his chest like he’s been wounded, looking incredibly offended by Yusaku’s statement. Instead of replying, he just huffs out a breath and spins on his heel to stalk over towards the kitchen, cape fluttering around his shoulders like he’s heading into a warzone.

“Alright, you big grouch, mark my words! I’ll make _ the best _pancakes you’ve ever eaten and then you’ll fall madly in love with me before the day is over with!” he boldly declares. When he reaches the kitchen, he actually sheds the vampiric cape altogether and tosses it over one of the bar stools nearby with a flick of his wrist. “I’ll even make them different shapes for variety and--are you okay?”

It’s almost comical how quickly Ai goes from irritation to worry in a matter of milliseconds. All Yusaku did was rub at a spot next to his eyes and look away in mild discomfort. His head still hurts, probably from thinking too much about everything.

“Just a headache. It’ll go away.”

Ai makes a face. “That’s not good enough... Take a nap or something. _ Rest_. Roboppi should be back with some painkillers and stuff soon. In the meantime, have a drink while I whip up those pancakes~”

Ai snaps two fingers together and a floating robot dressed in a little waiter’s outfit suddenly appears with a tray of orange juice complete with a purple straw, an orange wedge stuck onto the glass’s rim, and a tiny pink umbrella stuck into the fruit. The presentation is silly because it’s just orange juice and Yusaku stares long and hard, but when the little rotund robot floats over and offers the glass to him, he takes it. It’s ice-cold and even though he’s not much for anything that isn’t coffee or some ungodly abomination of caffeine, it’s still refreshing.

“Mm...thanks.”

He doesn’t miss the soft smile that lights up Ai’s face and it does something to his insides that he doesn’t want to think about. He keeps his eyes on his drink and then slowly turns to look out the window wall that makes up part of the living room, blinking when he sees a heart-shaped tower not too far off. It’s very striking and anyone who dabbles in dueling would recognize it anywhere.

_ ‘Heartland?’ _

Heartland City is a place Yusaku has only ever heard about despite it being one of Den City’s neighbors. He’s never had a need to visit, but he’s seen a few maps and heard a few tales and the city is like an enormous maze. If someone wants to find a place disappear into, here is a good start.

_ ‘What are you planning, Ai?’ _ He turns a wary eye back onto his partner and watches him work. He’s got a silly white “Kiss the Cook” apron on now and is carefully studying what Yusaku assumes is a recipe he pulled up on a holopad. _ ‘And how can I convince you to stop and come home?’ _

  
-x-x-  


“Destination reached, Revolver-sensei!” Roboppi announces in a chipper tone. They park inside a gated parking lot next to a tall building filled with luxury apartments. “You were reading that map all wrong! It would have taken you a looooot longer to find this place with that old thing. Good thing you ran into me, hunh?”

Ryoken pointedly ignores the A.I.’s smug grin and presses a hand to his mouth before quickly stumbling out of the car with his heart hammering three miles a minute. His legs shake as he stands and he bends over with a hand on his knee, too nauseous to reprimand Roboppi for the avatar name drop. He doesn’t know what sadistic bastard gave the A.I. a driver’s license, but they need to be _ fired _because Roboppi’s driving skills are far more of a threat to humanity than Lightning ever was. Then again, for all he knows, the license was forged and Ryoken just suffered a near-death experience at the hands of an illegal driver.

He’s _ never _ getting into a car with an A.I. --especially not _ that _ one-- _ ever _ again.

Roboppi doesn’t seem to mind being ignored and simply locks up the car with a beep and skips around to his side with Yusaku’s gift bag of medicine and a stuffed Wooloo plush clutched in their hands. They’re humming some tune he doesn't recognize to themself and he hears keys jingling, but he hears them pause and momentarily go quiet as, he assumes, they observe him.

“Hmm… There, there, sensei.” they say eventually with some amusement. Ryoken feels a hand pat his back and it does nothing to help his wooziness. “Car sickness is natural for humans, but it is kind of surprising. Don’t you live on a boat?”

There’s a scathing retort sitting in the back of his throat, but all he can do is take a few steadying breaths to calm his frightened heart because if he tries to speak, he thinks all the caffeine he’s consumed within the past few hours will just end up splattered onto the sidewalk and the very last thing he needs to be is sick in enemy territory. Roboppi seems rather chaotic, but all it took to gain some semblance of their trust had been to play along with their antics. Ai, on the other hand, likely won’t be easy to please. He threw SOL’s designated Queen into a coma, threatened Zaizen’s life, and now he’s taken Yusaku to do who knows what with him. Roboppi, at least, is somewhat predictable. 

Somewhat.

When the feelings of nausea and general dizziness finally fade, Ryoken manages to stand up straight and eyes Roboppi warily.

“Where did you learn how to drive?” he asks and although he doesn't want to get on the A.I.’s bad side, he can’t help the bit of contempt that slips through. “That was--”

“Perfect, right?” Roboppi interrupts. They set their hands on their hips and puff out their chest in pride. “I watched every single episode of Initial D _ and _all the movies! So I’m a pro behind the wheel!”

_ Oh. _

Ryoken pinches the bridge of his nose because of course an A.I. protege of Ai’s would learn something from an old anime series. _ Of course. _It explains a hell of a lot, really. Not how they got the license, but--

“And an actual living, _ breathing _ person just _ gave _ you a license?”

“Nope! It’s a loophole in the system!” Roboppi says, smug grin turning into something even more haughty. “SOLtis are still considered A.I. and aren’t given any human rights. As long as a SOLtis is either registered as belonging to a living human or to a company with the intent of being used as a driver, I don’t need one! Sneaky, right?”

_ Oh god. _ This tiny hellion is running around with driving skills they learned from a fictional depiction of racing _ and it’s legal? _

“...lovely.”

“Thank you!”

It wasn’t a compliment, but Ryoken wisely keeps his mouth shut on the matter. He can protest this heinous oversight in their country’s robotics laws at a later date. Right now, he needs Roboppi to lead him to Yusaku and his inevitable confrontation with the Dark Ignis.

“So...Yusaku?” he prompts.

“Of course! A promise is a promise~ Follow me!”

They take the elevator all the way up to the top floor where only a single apartment resides. It’s enormous and Ryoken stares for a moment before following along behind Roboppi as they trot up to the door and press down on the doorbell intercom.

“Anikiiiii, open the door!” Roboppi says and shakes the gift bag. “I got the goods.”

“Hah? Oh, nice work! He could really use those painkillers right about now... Hold on a sec.”

Roboppi grins and rushes behind Ryoken to give him a little push towards the door, making him stumble a bit.

“Hey!”

“After you, after you!”

Ryoken’s eyes narrow but he acquiesces and waits with crossed arms for the door to open. When it does, he’s treated to the sight of Ai in a ridiculous “Kiss the Cook” apron, absolutely peppered with patches of flour and something that might be an egg.

Ai freezes like a deer caught in headlights. “...oh.”

“Mmhm.”

“_Fuck _...”

The Ignis runs a hand through his hair and then stares at Ryoken like staring will make him any less real. 

“I’m sorry but there’s a strict ‘no guns’ policy on this floor.” Ai informs him after a solid minute of staring. He’s standing his ground and speaking far more calmly than Ryoken expected him to. He does look and sound the tiniest bit surprised by his presence, but then he spots Roboppi just behind Ryoken and sighs, just a little. “They can stay, but _ you _?” 

The Ignis crosses his arms and leans against the door frame in a casual stance. He lightly kicks the inside of the doorway with his heel and a floating holo-screen flickers to life next to the apartment’s gilded nameplate. In big, neon pink letters it reads: _ NO GUNS ALLOWED_. Ai kicks at the doorway once more and a footnote appears just under those words that reads: _ Yes, that includes you, Revolver. _

It’s a special kind of pettiness that only someone like Ai can dish out and Ryoken doesn’t hesitate to roll his eyes because it’s childish acts like these that make the Dark Ignis difficult to take seriously, at times. It’s a dangerous thing, too, because it hides how perfectly capable Ai is of committing monstrous acts.

“And since you’re a threat to sweet, innocent A.I. like _ me_,” Ai continues and flutters his eyelashes at him with a flirtatious cock of his hips. “I’m afraid it’s out of my hands and you’re not allowed in. So. Ta-ta~!”

Ai tries to shut the door in his face, but Ryoken slams his forearm against it just before it’s able to click shut and pushes back with a snarl.

“I came here for Yusaku and I’m _ not _leaving without him!”

Ai leans all his weight against the door with a grunt and he speaks as if trying to talk through clenched teeth. “_Maybe _ he doesn't _ want _ to talk to you! _ Maybe _ he’s fine here with _ me_! Did you ever consider that, pretty boy?”

“You expect me to take _ your _ word for it? The only one whose opinion I care to hear is _ his_.”

They both struggle back and forth with all their might to force the door to give in, trading insults and threats like a couple of children having a playground spat. It doesn’t last very long, however, because Roboppi steps up by Ryoken’s side and watches them both with an annoyed frown on their face. Up until now, they’ve been quiet, but going by the increasingly agitated way they tap their foot again and again, they’ve had enough.

“Can I come in now? Master needs his medicine and you’re both being babies.” they complain and shake the gift bag at them in impatience. “Besides, Revolver already pinky promised to keep our location a secret in exchange for visiting Master, so fair is fair, Aniki. You gonna make me into a liar?”

Both Ai and Ryoken pause in their door tug-of-war and turn their attention to the smallest of their party. Ai blinks and a clear sheen of confusion coats his eyes as he tries to process the new information like an old computer struggling to boot up.

“...he did?”

Oh, so they’re doing _ this _now… Ryoken sighs, a bit of the fight leaving him, and holds up his pinky like he intends to make another promise with it again, a move which Roboppi mimics with a determined glint. 

“...I did.”

“He did!”

Ai stares at his protege like he’s seeing into the void and then he quirks a questioning eyebrow up at Ryoken, rightfully suspicious of his motives. He doesn't say anything at first, however. He just studies him, carefully and quietly, like he’s reading through lines of code or studying a recipe he doesn’t want to mess up (which might explain the bits of flour stuck in his unruly hair). Eventually, though, his shoulders sag and he lets the door go free and it creaks open anticlimactically, neither he nor Ryoken making a move to do anything about it.

“Well...I guess you’d have to be some kind of _ monster _to break a pinky promise…” Ai grudgingly admits. He sets a hand against his hip and carelessly tosses his other in a random direction behind him, sulking. “Living room.”

“Great!”

Roboppi darts past them in a blur of blue and pink and Ryoken can hear them calling for Yusaku in the distance as he and Ai remain at the entranceway. Somehow, it’s more awkward than Ryoken expected it to be. He certainly expected the fighting, but whatever this is? Roboppi truly is a force to be reckoned with... 

“Okay, _ look_. Here’s the deal.” Ai continues suddenly and jabs a finger into his chest. His eyes are set into a glare that Ryoken matches with just as much intensity. “I’ll let you see him, but you can’t take him back with you.”

Ryoken’s fists clench and he takes a step closer, raising up to his full height. He’s not quite as tall as the SOLtis, but the aura he exudes rises far higher than any robot could ever hope to reach. His anger flares and Ai backs off if only a little.

“_ I’ll do no such thing. _ ” he hisses. He pushes past Ai and when the Ignis tries to stop him, Ryoken shoves him against the wall next to the stairs. He slams a hand next to the Ignis’ head, a warning dripping from his lips. “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but _ kidnapping_? You should know more than anyone else how _ wrong _that is!”

The Ignis’ eyes are wide, but he seems to reel in whatever fear Ryoken managed to instill into him and lightly snorts. He presses himself against the wall and tilts his head to the side in a dainty way.

“A kabedon for little ol’ me?” he teases and fans himself with his hand, lips curled into a pretty smile. “_Ohhhh_, you’re making me _ blush_, Revolver-sensei~”

Ryoken almost, _ almost _rips himself away, but that would be allowing the Ignis to win and so he keeps his expression schooled into cold fury. He refuses to entertain the Ignis’ playful games. None of this is a joke and he wants the flirty thing to understand that. So he continues to glare, continues not to give Ai the reaction he wants, and eventually, Ai frowns at him quite deeply.

“Of course someone with daddy issues would be a wet blanket, wouldn’t they?” he continues with and a slow smirk lazily stretches across his lips that has Ryoken seeing red. “Poor, poor Ryokkun~ Daddy didn’t give him enough attention, so he’s had to make do with punishing helpless A.I. just to feel like he had a purpose in his eyes~”

He knows he shouldn’t rise to Ai’s baiting, but he physically cannot stop himself from slamming a shaking fist into the Ignis and knocking him to the ground. He’s never been the type to get physical with others. Logic and strategy are his battlefields. His strength lies in his mind. But his blood is _ boiling _ and _ bubbling _ like a witch’s cauldron and all he can see is Ai’s vicious smirk leering up at him in delight.

And Ai...Ai just laughs at him for everything, having finally gotten a reaction out of him that he wanted. It’s loud and hysterical and quickly draws the attention of the apartment’s other two occupants.

“Aniki?”

“Ryoken?”

Two sets of equally startled voices ring out and although he was expecting it, Ryoken still stiffens. He opens his mouth with the intent of saying something back, but no words come and he hesitates to turn around despite his very reason for coming here standing behind him. But like everything in his life that involves Yusaku, Yusaku is the one to reach out and he steps between them, concern in his eyes and a hesitant hand hovering next to Ryoken’s arm.

“Ryoken...?”

Ryoken keeps hesitating and hesitating, but when Yusaku finally, _ gently_, lays a hand on his upper arm, the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding releases.

“Yu--...Fujiki…”

Ai snorts. “Can’t even say his name when he’s in the room. What a lame guy.”

“What’s going on?” Yusaku asks and turns as Ai picks himself up off the ground. His shoulders hunch and he takes a step towards the Ignis. “Are you _ fighting _?”

Ai only offers up an open-armed shrug. “Ah, you know me. Never have been able to get Revolver to like me… He’s a _ meanie_. Comfort me, Yusaku-chan~”

He wraps his arms around Yusaku’s middle and cuddles him to his chest. Yusaku looks confused, if not exasperated by the action, but Ryoken sees it for what it is. Ai is using Yusaku as a makeshift shield while simultaneously keeping him out of Ryoken’s reach. It’s underhanded but clever.

“Let him go, Ignis.”

“Make me~”

Yusaku’s eyebrows knit. “There’s no reason for you to fi--”

Ryoken clicks his tongue and holds up his wrist to show off his duel disk. “_ Fine. _ I’m fully prepared to do what needs to be done.”

The Ignis’ eyes flash with an excited gleam and he lets Yusaku go, only to push him back with a sweep of his arm.

“Ohoho~ How bold! You want to face the final boss already?” he teases and makes short work of tossing his apron to the side. The lack of it and his ridiculous cape is something of an improvement, but there’s still spots of flour here and there. “Gonna prove to me you’re worthy of _ my _Yusaku-chan? Game on, Ryokkun~”

Yusaku tries to push past Ai, but can’t quite make it happen. “Wait, you can’t--”

“Into the VRAINS!”


End file.
